Mario Chalmers Came Up Huge in Game 4 of the NBA Finals

Mario Chalmers was indeed “Super” last night, helping push the Miami Heat to the brink of the NBA title. From the AP: “Chalmers scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half, 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter, as the Heat moved one win away from a championship with a 104-98 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the finals. The Heat now lead the series 3-1, and can clinch the crown with a home victory Thursday night. ‘No matter what, no matter how tough we are on him, he actually thinks he’s the best player on this team and that’s a gift and a curse,’ Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. ‘But tonight it was a gift for us because he never gets down on himself, he always believes, `Find me, I can make a shot. I can make a play.’ He was huge for us.’ Chalmers is the official Heat locker room criticism lightning rod. LeBron James, in particular, thinks nothing of screaming a few things at Chalmers after Miami’s point guard makes a mistake in a game. It happens almost every game, actually, and because Chalmers usually seems undeterred by it all, the Heat have never seen a reason to stop directing the in-game antics his way. […] ‘We’ve been staying on him because we need him,’ Heat forward Chris Bosh said. ‘We knew coming into the season we needed him to be a better point guard. We all had to get better, and he’s just outlasted a tremendous amount of pressure and he’s responding every time, and that’s what he does.’ […] The Thunder opened the game with Kevin Durant guarding Chalmers, a move to keep Durant – who played off him a bit – out of foul trouble. It worked on that front. It failed on another, the one that left Chalmers fired up about the snub. ‘Yeah, I took that as a little sign of disrespect,’ Chalmers said. ‘For me, I worked too hard to be in the position I’m in now. Even though my offense wasn’t clicking three games in the series, I wanted to step up for my team, and I was able to do that.'”